In oil and gas operations in order to enhance the rate at which fluid is produced, or when the reservoir pressure is insufficient to lift the produced fluids, an artificial lift system employing an electric submersible pump (ESP) may be used.
A typical ESP system may be designed for optimum operation within a certain operating window corresponding to the conditions of a particular well. Hence, after installation of the ESP system within a well, if well conditions change significantly then the installed ESP may no longer be operable at optimal conditions and may have to be replaced. Replacing an ESP may be time-consuming and may require shutting down production. Hence, replacing an ESP may generally be expensive to implement.
Also, ESP systems may generally require large amounts of electrical power and high voltages for their operation. This may also result in larger size, more difficult to deploy power cables for providing power from a surface power source to the motor of an ESP system.